


Tweek Week Day 5: Hair

by KyleMeMaybe



Series: Tweek Week 2019 [3]
Category: South Park
Genre: Gen, Haircuts, Insecurity, Rated teen for language, Tweek has good friends, self-consciousness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-08-20 13:04:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20228305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KyleMeMaybe/pseuds/KyleMeMaybe
Summary: Tweek doesn't feel like himself after he gets a bad haircut, but luckily he has some good friends to back him up when he needs it.





	Tweek Week Day 5: Hair

**Author's Note:**

> Had to skip a few days, but here's my entry for day five of Tweek Week--the prompt is "Hair" and I had a couple of ideas on where to take it, but ultimately decided on this. Will probably write one of the other ideas as its own fic later but for now, please enjoy this~

It was impossible not to notice Tweek’s hair. It was all over the place, blond and sticking out at odd angles, always unkempt. It wasn’t that he didn’t try to smooth it down sometimes, but it never stayed that way for long when he did. Somehow, his hands always found their way into his hair—twisting a piece of it around his finger when he was thinking, yanking on it when he was stressed, sometimes just tugging on it absentmindedly. It was simply part of him.

Which was why everyone couldn’t help but notice it when Tweek showed up to school one day wearing a gray knit hat, none of his spiky hair poking out from underneath it. It took a minute for anyone to even realize it  _ was  _ Tweek, until they noticed the crookedly buttoned shirt that was the one big giveaway. He kept his eyes cast down too, not meeting anyone’s gazes until he reached Craig’s locker.

Craig raised an eyebrow as Tweek approached him. “Um, hey, Tweek...what’s up with the hat? Trying a new look?”

“I wish,” Tweek mumbled, self-consciously pulling his hat down even further. “I got a haircut yesterday. It’s...bad.”

“C’mon, Tweek, I’m sure it’s not  _ that  _ bad…” Craig reached toward Tweek’s hat, but Tweek jerked back and yanked his hat down with both hands, clamping it tightly into place.

“No, don’t! I mean it, it’s  _ really  _ bad. I hate it.”

“Okay, okay.” Craig backed off quickly. “Why’d you get your hair cut, though? I thought you liked it the way it was.”

“I didn’t exactly  _ want  _ to.” Tweek sighed, letting his hands drop to his sides. “I had no choice.” 

Craig lifted his eyebrow again. “I’m not sure I’m following.”

“Ngh...if I tell you, promise me you’re not gonna go track him down and beat him up, okay?”

“Well, when you put it that way, I’m pretty sure I’ve got an ass to kick.”

_ “Craig.  _ I mean it. I don’t want you to get expelled or whatever over something this stupid.”

“Alright, fine, I won’t,” Craig finally resigned, and Tweek slowly let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “Just tell me what happened.”

“Okay...Cartman stuck gum in my hair in class yesterday. He claimed it was an accident, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t, but I was too freaked out about the  _ gum  _ in my  _ hair  _ to call him out on it. I tried to get it out, I did everything it said to do online, but it only got stuck worse, so I...cut it out.”

_ “Ohhh.”  _ Craig could see where this was going.

“Yeah. Only I cut it too short, so I tried to even it out on the other side, but then I cut  _ that  _ too short...so I ended up having to go get a haircut to fix it,” Tweek finally concluded with a groan. “And it looks horrible and I hate it. It’s way too short.”

“I’m positive it’s nowhere near as bad as you think it is,” Craig said at last, trying to be reassuring. “I mean, it’s just hair. How bad can it be?”

“It’s just...it’s not  _ me.  _ That’s what I don’t like about it,” Tweek admitted, tugging absently at his hat. “It feels like I’m looking at a stranger every time I look in the mirror...ugh, I guess that sounds dramatic.”

“No, I mean, I get it--change can be weird, even if it’s just hair. But I’m sure it’s nowhere near as bad as you think it is,” Craig insisted patiently. “Maybe just show me…?”

Tweek hesitated, clutching and then unclenching his hand from the brim of his hat. “...you won’t laugh if I show you?”

“Of course I won’t.”

“Well...okay.” Reluctantly, Tweek slowly pulled off the hat, revealing his hair. 

Craig tipped his head slightly to the side as he surveyed it. Tweek’s hair was...short.  _ Really  _ short. Practically a buzz cut, so different from the messy spikes he’d had just yesterday. But...it didn’t look  _ bad  _ either. 

Tweek fidgeted under Craig’s gaze. “Ngh, see, I  _ told  _ you it was bad,” he said, rushing to put his hat back on, but Craig stopped him.

“No, really, it doesn’t look bad! I promise, Tweek. It’s, y’know,  _ different... _ but not  _ bad.” _

Tweek eyed Craig uncertainly. “D’you mean that? I don’t want you to lie just to make me feel better.”

“I’m not lying, honest. You probably just need to get used to it, that’s all.” Craig cracked a small smile and reached up, ruffling Tweek’s short hair. “It kind of suits you, actually.” 

“Pff, stop, that tickles.” Tweek couldn’t stop himself from laughing a little as he ducked away from Craig. He lifted a hand to his head, running a hand through his hair apprehensively. “I dunno, I still don’t like it very much...but I hate wearing a hat more. I guess you’re right, maybe I just need to get used to it…”

“Hey, guys!” Just then Clyde joined the group, followed by Token. “Me and Token were talking, and we were thinking…” His voice trailed off in surprise the second he caught sight of Tweek. “Oh, whoa, Tweek! You got a haircut!”

“Um, yeah…” Tweek combed his fingers through his hair again, out of nerves. 

Clyde offered him a smile. “Looks good!”

Tweek blinked. “You think so…?”

“Yeah! Short looks good on you,” Clyde affirmed, and Token nodded his agreement.

Tweek glanced one more time at each of his friends, wanting to believe it. “You really don’t think it looks too...I don’t know, weird? It doesn’t make me look too different from myself…?”

“Dude, I mean, it’s just  _ hair,”  _ Token pointed out lightly. “You’re still you whether your hair is long or not. It doesn’t change anything.”

“Yeah, exactly,” Craig added. “And besides that, it’s not like it’ll be like this forever. Your hair will grow back sooner than you think.”

That made it a little easier for Tweek to be able to smile again, a little. That was true. Even if he still hated his hairstyle, it wasn’t permanent—soon enough his hair would grow back in just as long and messy as it had been before. And his friends hadn’t made a big deal of it at all, other than to tell him it looked fine. He was so prone to overthinking about everything, even something as minor as hair, that having that reassurance from them meant a lot to him.

“Thanks, guys,” he said, finally. “You’re right, it’s not a big deal...thanks for helping me see that.”

The conversation shifted at that point, and they started discussing plans to hang out at Token’s house that afternoon after school. The more he got caught up in chatting with his friends, Tweek forgot almost completely about his hair. It just didn’t seem like it mattered that much, not when he had better things to focus on. Sure, it’d be hard for awhile not having longer hair to twist and tug at when he was nervous, but maybe this would help him break that bad habit for good.

And if nothing else, if anyone else made fun of him for his hair, at least he had friends he knew would have his back. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
